The social rights of young people, a competence of local and regional authorities

The social rights of young people, a competence of local and regional authorities

The fundamental social rights of the citizens of the member states of the Council of Europe are guaranteed by the European Social Charter and its collective complaints mechanism. As a legal instrument, the Charter refers to young people as having certain rights, notably in terms of education, health and housing. There are still significant disparities, however, in the way these rights are implemented, which is why the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe has adopted a report on this issue, presented on 3 April 2019 by the co-rapporteurs Liisa ANSALA (Finland, ILDG) and Piero FASSINO (Italy, SOC).

In order to ensure that young people’s social rights are respected in practice, the Congress calls on local and regional authorities, as bodies which have competences in the social field, to consider these rights a priority for their policies. Member states are invited to ratify the Social Charter, to accept the collective complaints procedures and to involve local and regional authorities in the Social Charter monitoring mechanism. The Congress also emphasises the importance of raising youth awareness through various initiatives and co-ordinating actions at all levels of governance.

In the context of the Congress initiative "Rejuvenating Politics", youth delegates were invited to speak during the debate.

Produced in response to a request from the youth delegates, this report is a continuation of the Congress’s efforts to improve youth integration, participation and engagement at local and regional levels. Since 2014, the Congress has been committed to promoting youth participation, in particular through the “Rejuvenating politics” initiative. Youth delegates from the 47 member states are invited to participate in the debates and to exchange views with Congress members on the issues on session agendas.

- Presentation by Liisa ANSALA (Finland, ILDG), Congress o-rapporteur
- Presentation by Piero FASSINO (Italy, SOC), Congress co-rapporteur.

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*** 36th Session of the Congress ***

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36th Session Strasbourg, France 3 April 2019
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Since the ratification of the European Charter on Local Self-Government in 2004, Georgia developed and implemented a number of reforms and laws with the aim to strengthen local authorities and to enhance civic engagement in decision-making. The large-scale decentralisation and regional development mechanisms include but are not limited to amendments to the Constitution of Georgia introducing constitutional guarantees for local self-government, the 2014 Self-Government Code, and the Decentralisation Strategy 2020-2025. In addition, the country has implemented since 2014 the National Strategy for the Protection of Human Rights in Georgia, accompanied by successive action plans.

In this context, the project “Strengthening participatory democracy and human rights at local level in Georgia” aims to strengthen human rights protection and democratic public participation at local level by ensuring that civil society organisations and citizens have a real impact on decision-making processes. The project also helps strengthen the capacities of local authorities and the National Association of Local Authorities of Georgia (NALAG) to protect and embed human rights standards and practices in their policies and strategies, to incorporate a gender perspective and to eliminate all forms of discrimination.

The project is implemented jointly by the Congress and the Directorate General of Democracy, Division Elections and Civil Society,  under the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Georgia 2024-2027. The main partners of the project are NALAG and the Public Defender of Georgia, which support the identification of needs and the provision of capacity development, expert support and advocacy.

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